There have been a few calls for a ranking system in the Section II boys soccer world beyond just the power rankings…I love a challenge/am a glutton for punishment.

To be fair to everyone, I do use the below numbers as a tool that helps my power rankings. They offer a different look on how teams stack up. I combine that with what I have seen live to produce the power rankings.

Ultimatley, everything is played out on the field, but how the field is created to play can be crucial to the results (think of the NCAA Men’s Basketball “March Madness” Tournament). This is where Section II soccer and football differ. Sectionals for soccer are seeded tournaments, while football sectionals are based soley (in theory) on records.

This system come from CollegeRPI.com and is part of the equation used when seeding the NCAA tournament every March. Click here to get the ins and outs of that system.

For Section II football I used this same idea, but with games weighted (for margin of victory, home/away, shutouts, OT wins/2nd Half rallies). I also did a version with unweighted games and included that on my spreadsheet. Then there was a lot of talking and squawking about everything…some loved the idea and some hated it which is kind of the whole point of coming up with a rating/ranking system in the first place. All of that can be seen by clicking here.

I tried to do something similar for soccer, but as you can see in the lead image, the paperwork mounted exponentially quicker. Perhaps next season I’ll have games weighted from the start.

If you could care less about all of that…

How unweighted Rating Percentage Index (RPI) works and how we will use it for boys and girls soccer

Winning Percentage (WP): Team Wins/Team non-tied total games.

Opponent Winning Percentage (OWP): Add all of the wins for a team’s opponents and the total games for a team’s opponents. Then take out the wins and games vs. the team in question (If a team is 3-5 then you would take out 2 wins and 8 total games). Once you have the subtracted numbers divide them just as with winning percentage.

1 – The Suburban Council plays a closed schedule (a team plays against the entire league once and then its division again) and can’t really be shoe horned into this system – there are no opponents outside of the league that open it up for ranking. Since most of the league is Class AA then the teams effected most at sectional time are Albany and Troy (both class AA) and Burnt Hills and Mohonasen (both class A) in where they fit in the respective classes for the postseason.

2 – The Western Athletic Conference plays a closed schedule. Filled with almost exclusivley Class C schools some of, but not all, the major players effected come sectional time are Northville (Class D) and Hoosic Valley and Greenwich in the Wasaren (both Class C).

3 – The Central Hudson Valley League plays a mostly closed schedule with only a few opponents out of the league for a few teams.

4 – There are teams that play out of section games. This isn’t the biggest deal (Albany playing Utica-Proctor and Newburgh Free Academy is one example of many), but in order to be fair the OWP and OOWP is estimated and factored in for out of section teams. I can’t do this system for the entire state. I just don’t have the time. I have looked up the records of the out of section opponents (through newspapers from around the state) and will factor them in as best I can for the rest of the season.

5 – Classification isn’t taken into account during the season by schedulers. This isn’t anyone’s fault, but just the way it is. The example that works best is Troy vs. Waterford twice this season. The Flying Horses just have more resources (players) then the Fordians and a deeper team. Troy won twice and probably would win almost always. The way this system is set up is everyone is on the same level (no classifications) so will there be Class Ds ahead of Cs or even Bs or As if there are crossover games between the leagues) maybe they deserve to be there….that is up for debate.

6 – This system compares teams with the lynch pin being non-league games which don’t figure into league standings.

As I have said from the start, this is a guide and not the end all be all (these are high schoolers)…and now, on with the countdown.

HINT: The best way to look at these is to compare two teams with similar attributes (ex. Two teams that are Non-Suburban and non-WAC and in the same league themselves is ideal) and the higher the number the “better” the team.

Top 10 Overall RPIs (Non-Suburban Council or Western Athletic Conference)

1. Broadalbin-Perth – .6529

2. South Glens Falls – .6464

3. Ichabod Crane – .6163

4. Fort Ann – .6041

5. Lake George – .6034

6. Scotia-Glenville – .6033

7. Voorheesville – .6026

8. Albany – .5952

9. Albany Academy – .5802

10. Troy – .5777

What does this mean? It basically means that the top Non-Suburban/WAC Class B, C, D schools can compete with the top and next-level Class AA and A schools (non-Suburban).

Is B-P the best team in the section? Well, maybe. They are the best team outside of the Suburban/WAC according to these numbers.

Albany is lower than Class B schools, how can they be ranked so high in the power rankings? The Falcons don’t play Class B schools in the playoffs so on Wednesdays they aren’t compared to them.

How do you factor the Suburban/WAC into these numbers? I can’t really since those two leagues are closed systems. I think the Suburban is the best league overall (and biggest) which gives them an edge over all teams ouotside of it. The WAC is competitive with any league out there and is on par with the Wasaren, Colonial, and Patroon. When I can figure out a way to integrate those feelings with these numbers you will be the first to know.

How can there be a tie? I round off to the .0001 and also the Scotties and the Spartans have identical 5-5-1 records against the same basic schedule.

Western Athletic Conference RPIs

1. Galway – .6186

2. Mayfield – .5985

3. Northville – .5796

4. St. JOE – .5339

How can Northville be that high up…are they getting a bonus? No, remember that the schedule in the WAC is done by league and not by class. Northville is Class D, but they play a WAC schedule against Class C teams.

What about the teams from the South? Mekeel and the like are hurt by the fact that theyonly play the North schools once. The North schools are always playing against quality opponents.

Strength of Schedules (Non-Suburban & Non-Western Athletic)

3 Toughest

1. Glens Falls – .5913

2. Gloversville – .5911

3. Queensbury – .5962

Is the Foothills that good? By playing B-P and SGF twice each these teams benefit greatly also they played against good non-league competition in pre/midseason tournaments. The Foothills has some good teams and they go out of league and play good teams.

3 Easiest

1. Doane Stuart – .4106

2. New Lebanon – .4121

3. Loudonville Christian- .4142

Is the CHVL bad? Not nessicarily. There are some weak teams and there are very few common opponents with the rest of the section. Doane Stuart plays a closed schedule, but they have oppoenents that play outside which has them in the overall section mix.

The Suburban and WAC are really close and brutal. Where are they? Both leagues have closed schedules where everyone plays the same once around the league and then around the division again schedule. The divsions have different schedules, but the teams within each division play the same basic teams.